This invention relates generally to the manufacture of encapsulated electric coils for use in electromagnetic devices. More particularly, the invention relates to the positioning and support of such coils within molds for encapsulation by dielectric media.
One major drawback of prior art mold locators is their general inability to maintain relatively minor or minimal contact(s) with the interior surfaces of the molds in which they are utilized. To the extent that all locators must be supported within their molds, most locators at best are only able to limit the nature of such contact(s) to a "line". Each of such lines represents an inherent weakness in system integrity and is commonly referred to as a "fault" line. Ideally, there would be no contact between the locator and the mold surface, in which case there would be no possibility of leakage through the encapsulation material due to manufacturing faults. Although most dielectric encapsulation materials in use today are designed for assuring maximal integrity of a coil, the mechanical methods available to assure such integrity have failed to keep pace with improvements in materials. What is needed is a more dependable, less fault-prone, mechanical system for enhancing integrity of encapsulated coils during their manufacture.